YEARS of wrangling between Government and Devonshire residents over an access road to a Devon Springs neighbourhood look unlikely to end soon.

The Department of Works & Engineering blocked entry to Devon Springs Road nearly three years ago amid concerns of a buckling embankment along its path.

Government charged area residents with the task of making the necessary repairs, saying it was a private road and therefore their responsibility.

Residents countered that the throughway had to fall under public domain as Government had opened up trenches and put in cables and water pipes without their permission.

Yesterday, Works, Engineering & Housing Minister David Burch failed to explain why, if Government had the ability to block access to a private road, it lacked the authority to repair the embankment.

He similarly did not address how the move partnered with Government's Sustainable Development plan ? the blocked access has forced residents to travel along other routes, adding to the traffic congestion of those roads.

"The problem has been going on for about ten years," said David Fox. He and his wife Mary own the store Party Plus on South Shore.

Concerned because their parking lot is located next to Devon Springs Road, they have been trying to improve the embankment for years with the assistance of Devonshire MP Michael Dunkley.

"It seems they want to wait until someone gets killed from a piece of falling rock like the lady at the Bermuda College before anything is done about it," Mr. Fox added. "They keep saying they have other projects. They seem to find time to do everything but this."

The property owner said he first noticed that the road was deteriorating several years ago, and built a wall at its foot, to prevent collapse.

However, the heavy machinery which once frequently travelled along Devon Springs to commercial businesses in the area ? the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute, the Barn and the Government Recycling Plant ? added considerable stress to the road and it became evident something more needed to be done.

"I went to Public Works about ten years ago and complained about the problem and they put up a sign forbidding heavy trucks from travelling on the road."

The situation worsened and, approximately five years ago, he approached Government a second time.

"Their solution was to make me pay," he said. "I refused. It wasn't my right of way and it wasn't my boundary that was falling."

Asked why area residents refused to collectively pay for the repairs, Mr. Fox said Government had never treated the road as if it were private.

"They've come in and laid cables and pipes without asking anyone's permission. If they can do that it's not a private road. It must be public if they're putting in water pipes, cable and trenching without permission. They made it into a public road ? it was used by all the traffic to the commercial properties, St. Brendan's, the Recycling Plant, the Barn."

Mr. Fox added that he presented that same argument to Ashfield DeVent during his service as Works & Engineering Minister.

"His response was, 'Well, it looks like we're responsible for it'," he said.

Contacted yesterday, Mr. Dunkley agreed the embankment had been a genuine cause of concern to residents and motorists travelling along Devon Springs Road for some time.

"I've been in contact with Works & Engineering ministers for three years about the road being a danger," he said. "They say they will not do anything because it's a private road. About two summers ago, Ashfield DeVent said work would start on it that summer. Nothing has been done. I've written (Sen.) Burch and am yet to receive a response. Because of our traffic problems, our roads are used more. It's obvious that our roads are going to deteriorate faster, to wear down quicker and it is a danger, especially to cars and trucks.

"I find it totally ridiculous that nothing has been done. It's a pretty well-populated residential area and people also travel through there for access to the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute, the Barn and the Recycling Plant. For Government to say it's a private road, I don't buy into that. If it's private, why do they have the right to drill water wells on it?"

The Opposition MP said that motorists now have to travel further east to access the neighbourhood, most frequently using Hermitage Road or Devon Springs Lane.

"The neighbours are incensed. The residents on the southern side are truly impacted. How can somebody block it off and do nothing about it? It typifies the way this Government acts. Everything is a chain reaction, there's no thought given as to what to do about it. If that's leadership, it's a sad state of affairs."